Erlich: The US massacre at Al-Sukkariya, Syria in 2008 was a clear violation of international lawErlich: The US massacre at Al-Sukkariya, Syria in 2008 was a clear violation of... more
I don't really see why smoking is being banned in these Arab countries as it seems like an ancient pass time.
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Syria (AP) -- Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining an anti-smoking trend already under way in other Arab countries.
The ban also includes a rare restriction in the Arab world: limiting places where Syrians can indulge in the hubbly bubbly - water pipes known locally as argileh.
President Bashar Assad's decree, which will go into effect in six months, bans smoking in restaurants, cafes, cinemas, theaters, schools, official functions and on public transport. Offenders will be fined 2,000 Syrian pounds - about $45.
Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates - and most recently Iraq - have imposed similar restrictions on smoking, but the bans vary in scope and enforcement.
Emirates authorities have banned smoking in public places and indoors, including water pipe smoking in certain places such as restaurants in residential neighborhoods.
Last year, Egypt, one of the top 15 smoking countries in the world, launched a campaign of visual warnings about tobacco's dangers, including a requirement that cigarette labels carry images of the effects of smoking.
Iraq's government in August unveiled sweeping curbs on smoking after parliament ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires governments to fight smoking.
Turkey banned indoor smoking earlier this year, leading a man to shoot a restaurant owner to death after being asked to put out his cigarette.I don't really see why smoking is being banned in these Arab countries as it seems... more
Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining an anti-smoking trend already under way in other Arab countries.Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining... more
More than 800,000 people have lost their livelihoods in a four-year dry spell exacerbated by climate change and rising food prices. Almost half of them live in urban makeshift camps.
Deraa, Syria - The acute drought that has driven an estimated 300,000 Syrian farmers, herders, and their families to abandon home for makeshift urban camps may not be the worst in the region's history; the Fertile Crescent has often experienced cycles of drought.
But now climate change, an exploitation of water resources, and higher food prices brought about by the global financial crisis have all severely sharpened the impact of this dry spell, now in its fourth year. The numbers of Syrians affected – an estimated 1.3 million, 803,000 of whom have entirely lost their livelihoods – point to a serious humanitarian crisis.
With Syria's population expected to triple by 2025, the severity of the drought presents yet another challenge for a leadership isolated internationally and struggling at home to maintain a broken state system while slowly introducing capitalism.
"It's going to underline for the everyday person the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of the Syrian state," says Joshua Landis, codirector of the University of Oklahoma's Center for Middle East Studies.
Mass emigration compounds Iraqi refugee crowding
Shams Asa Mousa is already too familiar with those.
For more generations than she can remember, her family has grown wheat in Syria's Euphrates river valley. But as a result of the drought, they left their home in the eastern part of the country. Now, she and most of her 10 children sit idle in a tent made of wheat sacks outside of the southern city of Deraa near the Jordanian border, swatting flies, hundreds of miles away from their family home.
The mass migration toward Syria's cities, already overwhelmed with Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, is only the most urgent of the drought's consequences, which also include wide-spread malnutrition, increased illness, and school dropout rates, according to a recent United Nations report.
Asa Mousa's family has been living at the camp for three months without running water and only spurts of stolen electricity, subsisting on bread, rice, yoghurt and sugared tea.
She says no tangible help has come except for a government official who offered the family 20 percent of their Deraa income to return home. The family declined the offer.
"We are totally forgotten," says Asa Mousa. "Sometimes we feel like no one knows we are here."More than 800,000 people have lost their livelihoods in a four-year dry spell... more
Older and less understood than other Arab cultures in South Paterson, the Syrians have an ancient story to tell. And much like the Road to Damascus there is an "ah hah" pay off at the end. It is Bible-speak… Read full post »Older and less understood than other Arab cultures in South Paterson, the Syrians have... more
The decision taken by Jack Straw to change the law to now be able to prosecute those living in the UK and suspected of committing war crimes and acts of genocide as far back as 1991, has caused quite a stir in British media.
As Kate Allen explains in her piece on Independent Minds the expected change in law would apply only to those who are actually legally resident in the UK. That excludes anyone living here on spousal or student visas, work permits, or who are simply visiting. This is a major gap in the newly proposed changes and a loophole which possibly dozens of suspects can easily fall into.The decision taken by Jack Straw to change the law to now be able to prosecute those... more
Since 1945, by deed and by example, the US has overthrown 50 governments, including democracies, crushed some 30 liberation movements and supported tyrannies from Egypt to Guatemala (see William Blum's histories). Bombing is apple pie. Having stacked his government with warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, the 45th president is merely upholding tradition. The hearts and minds farce I witnessed in Vietnam is today repeated in villages in Afghanistan and, by proxy, Pakistan, which are Obama's wars.
Liberals say that the United States is once again a "nation of moral ideals", but behind the façade little has changed. With his government of warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, Barack Obama is merely upholding the myths of a divine America.
Mourn On The 4th of July
By John PilgerSince 1945, by deed and by example, the US has overthrown 50 governments, including... more
Israeli Occupation Forces have kidnapped 21 Human Rights workers aboard the Free Gaza boat, Spirit of Humanity, including Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire & former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
ISRAEL ATTACKS JUSTICE BOAT; KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS; CONFISCATES MEDICINE, TOYS AND OLIVE TREES
“Israel’s deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release.”Israeli Occupation Forces have kidnapped 21 Human Rights workers aboard the Free Gaza... more
A Palestinian boy plays with a toy at the Kalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem on Thursday. Palestinians in the occupied territories are required to go through a web of checkpoints to travel around Israel.
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By Bob Bersson
I NEVER THOUGHT that I would say it. Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is apartheid and it’s apartheid in the full South African sense of the word. The way Israel administers the militarily surrounded Palestinian enclaves or cantons that it has created in the “Occupied Territories” is apartheid, no way around it.
Consider the term itself. Apartheid is rooted in the word, “apart.” Apartness enforced by the absolute power of one people over another. In the South Africa of old, apartheid was rooted in race. In Israel-Palestine, it is based on ethnicity as both peoples claim a Semitic heritage.
The reasons for apartheid in Dutch Afrikaaner South Africa and in the Jewish State of Israel might differ somewhat, but structurally the two systems are alike. In South Africa, a small white minority sequestered the large black majority in racially segregated enclaves or homelands or townships — they did allow them to commute to work in white areas with identity cards and via police checkpoints — while the Afrikaaners themselves had complete freedom of movement around the country. The police and army strictly enforced this legalized separation or ghettoization.
In the predominantly Arab Palestinian West Bank, the structural situation is much the same. Palestinian Arabs, whether Muslim or Christian, cannot live in the new Jewish towns on the West Bank and are kept apart, often by miles, from these settlements. Palestinians cannot move freely but are constantly forced each day to spend substantial amounts of time, sometimes hours, passing through police and military checkpoints. Freedom of movement is tightly controlled and major modern (that is, Israeli) roads are mostly off-limits to them. Just like the huge concrete-and-steel wall, the “separation barrier” to the east of Jerusalem that divides Jews from Arabs — a kind of Berlin Wall of the Middle East — the numerous Jewish settlements that ring Palestinian towns separate and divide the various Palestinian population centers — Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin — from each other. And with each new Israeli settlement or outpost comes a web of checkpoints and military-police stations that enforce total constraint on the inhabitants, the Arabs that is, not the Jews; exactly like in the old South Africa.
On an earA Palestinian boy plays with a toy at the Kalandia checkpoint between the West Bank... more
Meanwhile, let's remember what Mossadeq said 46 years ago: "No nation goes anywhere under the shadow of dictatorship."
Republicans are accusing President Obama of not talking tough enough to the Iranians. Perhaps they think we should start a third war.
People who know the history of U.S. interference in Iran understand that he must maintain as even a position as possible with that regime. I can easily understand why the Iranians see the British and U.S. hands in the present demonstrations.
In 1951 a CIA-fomented coup attempted to replace the duly elected premier of Iran, Mohammad Mossadeq, with the shah. After this failed, a second one succeeded. The reason for overthrowing Mossadeq was his attempt to get the British to give Iran a fair share of the oil revenue.
The shah reigned with U.S. support until 1979. During this time he was noted for his vicious secret police , the SAVAK, which tortured many opposition leaders. During his reign the British and U.S. were able to extract oil on very favorable terms.
After the 1979 coup, relations with Iran were not good. Israel was also on bad terms with Iran because it was seen to be a tool of the United States.
In 1988 our cruiser, Vincennes, shot down a jumbo Iranian airliner with all aboard killed. Our apology and compensation was not at the level that would be expected in such a case. Iran understandably was insulted by this.
George W. Bush labeled Iran part of the Axis of Evil. He also spent over $75 million on "Support of Democracy" in Iran. The Iranians clearly saw this as meddling in their internal affairs.
KENT WARNER
Center HarborMeanwhile, let's remember what Mossadeq said 46 years ago: "No nation goes anywhere... more
Jun 24, 2009 22:46
UN's Gaza war crimes probe to screen hearings live
The United Nations team which is investigating alleged war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead, last January, announced on Wednesday that it would broadcast the hearings it plans to hold with Palestinian and Israeli victims live.
The team, led by veteran war crimes investigator Richard Goldstone, will hold the hearings in Gaza City on Sunday and Monday, UN officials said.
Spokeswoman Doune Porter said that the hearings would be broadcast and the media would be allowed to view them from a separate room.
She said Wednesday that the team also would hold hearings in Geneva on July 6-7 under the same conditions.Jun 24, 2009 22:46
UN's Gaza war crimes probe to screen hearings live
The... more
The Iraqi refugee crisis has been out of the headlines for awhile. But few of the more than two million people who fled the country have gone back. Aid agencies are looking for new ways to find money to support the refugees who are mostly living in Jordan and Syria.The Iraqi refugee crisis has been out of the headlines for awhile. But few of the more... more
With orders now having been given to the Islamic Republic's security forces to use maximum force the demonstrators will have no choice but to get armed in order to defend themselves and their compatriots who are fighting for their basic rights - their human rights - which this terrorist and anti-Iranian regime has denied them since its inception 30 years ago.
Despite the bloodshed and violence the demonstrations keep growing larger as people find the courage to fight back against the people who are suppressing them and killing their compatriots.
Two of the notable slogans heard on the streets of Iran today are:
DEATH TO THE DICTATOR!
I WILL KILL WHOEVER KILLED MY BROTHER!
==================================With orders now having been given to the Islamic Republic's security forces to use... more
Murder On The Streets Of Tehran
Basij Shots to Death a Young Woman
Video
At 19:05 June 20th - Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. - Warning - Video should only be viewed by a mature audience. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22876.htmMurder On The Streets Of Tehran
Basij Shots to Death a Young Woman
Video
At 19:05... more
Security officials and riot police engaged in violent clashes with demonstrators in Tehran today in what one reporter called an "unprecedented scene" in Iran in recent years.
NBC producer Ali Arouzi described the events on Saturday:
What started off as a small rally outside a pro-reformist newspaper swelled into a massive crowd of people chanting, "Death to the dictator, death to Ahmadinejad!"
Then, what started with a small amount of police pushing the crowd back turned into huge riot police in armored gear and motor bikes beating all the young students here with batons, knocking them back. The students responded by throwing stones, which the police then threw back. Now the police are coming off all the heart streets and main streets to try and disperse the crowd. But this is an unprecedented scene in Iran today.
Arouzi said that many of the demonstrators, afraid of reprisals, were wearing green scarves and surgical masks.
Asked if he believed the election results being reported by Iran's Interior Ministry, Arouzi sounded highly skeptical. "If you were in Tehran the last few days, you would think it impossible that Ahmadinejad won," he said. "Everybody we spoke to was a supporter of Mousavi."
He noted that Mousavi's supporters acknowledged that he was somewhat of a blank slate politically, but that the presidential election had become a referendum on Ahmadinejad.
Arouzi then described the protests in greater detail:
Initially, it was a peaceful demonstration. People were forming a human chain, saying they wanted their vote back... but the more the police came, the angrier the mob got. It became sort of a mob mentality here. Now the police have swelled in huge numbers. They are being very, very violent with the crowds.
Every young person I've spoken to here, I've asked them, 'do you think you coming out onto the streets is going to make a change?' They said, no, but we have to come out anyway if we want our voices to be heard, but they're sure this won't make a change.
Demonstrators have been injured. People have come up to us and they've shown us that their arms have been bruised, black eyes, broken noses, bloody heads. But they are fighting back as well. This is, I mean, I've been in Iran four years here and everything here has always been contained. Today we saw the demonstrators setting on the police. An hour ago, maybe 30, 40 demonstrators rushed the police, throwing stones at them. One of the policemen fell and they were kicking him in the head and some of his colleagues had to come and drag him away.Security officials and riot police engaged in violent clashes with demonstrators in... more
France: Launch of Broad Campaign against Agrexco « U.S. Campaign ...
By marcy/مارسي newman/نيومان
Millions of people demonstrated to denounce Israeli army war crimes. Richard Falk, UN observer for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories since 1967, claimed at the end of the war that the weapons used and the attacks against ...
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THE ANTI-HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL CONDEMNED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
In 2002, the European Parliament voted for the freezing of Europe’s Association Agreements with Israel, due to Israel’s failure to respect Human Rights, in Palestine but also in Israel with respect to Israeli
Arabs.
On 4 December 2008, underlining the persistence of the problem, most members of the European parliament voted against the “upgrade” of the Association Agreements with Israel.France: Launch of Broad Campaign against Agrexco « U.S. Campaign ...
By... more
PCHR's report bears testimony to Israel's contempt for international laws, its imperial agenda, culture of violence, disdain for peace, genocidal intentions, disparagement of Arabs and Islam, and its scorn for Palestinian lives and welfare
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Introduction
Since the September 2000 Second Intifada, Israeli forces killed 1179 children, including 865 in Gaza as part of a decades-long policy of collectively punishing millions of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, mostly civilian men, women, and children.
Israel calls self-defense "terrorism" and justifies its actions as responses to militant missile or other attacks. PCHR's investigations "have consistently undermined these claims," and condemns all killing, especially of children.
In September 2006, the London Independent's Donald Macintyre headlined his story: "Gaza: The children killed in a war the world doesn't want to know about." He wrote about more than 37 children under 18 killed since June 25 during Israel's Operation Summer Rain, according to PCHR figures, out of an overall 228 total, mostly civilians.Israeli War Crimes Against Children
During Operation Cast Lead
By Stephen Lendman... more
Tel Aviv has 936 lawsuits against them for Gaza assault
Israel was set to face an avalanche of war crimes lawsuits from Palestinian lawyers who accused Tel Aviv of dozens of crimes five months after its three week assault on the Gaza Strip, the German daily Der Spiegel reported Saturday.
A group of Palestinian lawyers filed 936 lawsuits against Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) and the cases will soon be heard in Spain's National Court under universal jurisdiction, Iyad al-Alami, head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), said.
PCHR's attorneys are collecting evidence of human rights violations and war crimes committed against unarmed civilians.Israel set for blizzard of war crimes charges
Tel Aviv has 936 lawsuits against... more
War exposes the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves. It rips open the hypocrisy of our religions and secular institutions. Those who return from war have learned something which is often incomprehensible to those who have stayed home. We are not a virtuous nation.War Is Sin
By Chris Hedges
War exposes the lies we tell ourselves about... more
Some 160 villages in northern Syria were deserted by their residents in 2007 and 2008 because of climate change, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The report drawn up by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) warns of potential armed conflict for control of water resources in the Middle East.
"The 2007/8 drought caused significant hardship in rural areas of Syria. In the northeast of the country, a reported 160 villages have been entirely abandoned and the inhabitants have had to move to urban areas," it said.
In Syria and also in Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, "climate change threatens to reduce the availability of scarce water resources, increase food insecurity, hinder economic growth and lead to large-scale population movements," the report said.
"This could hold serious implications for peace in the region," the Canada-based institute said.
The study, financed by Denmark, predicts a hotter, drier and less predictable climate in the Middle East, "already considered the world's most water-scarce and where, in many places, demand for water already outstrips supply."
Oli Brown, who co-wrote the report with Alec Crawford, said: "Climate change itself poses real security concerns to the region. It could lead to increased militarisation of strategic natural resources, complicating peace agreements."
"Israel is already using climate change as an excuse to increase their control over the water resources in the region," he said.
In the study's conclusions, Brown and Crawford said: "As a region, the Levant produces a tiny fraction of global emissions -- less than one percent of the world total.
The exception among Levant countries is Israel, "whose emissions -- 11.8 metric tonnes per capita -- exceed the European average of 10.05 tonnes," they said.
"This may exacerbate the existing deep mistrust of the West, including Israel, which would be seen as causing a problem that it is unable or unwilling to resolve," they said.
The study also revealed the challenge posed by population growth.
"The combined population of the Levant will grow to 71 million by 2050 from 42 million in 2008" with major implications for water demand, food supply, housing and jobs, it said.
snip
"Some 13 percent of agricultural land was downgraded between 1980 and 2006 because of... urban expansion and agricultural, industrial and tourism activities," Fayez Asrafy, a desertification expert, told AFP.
"Rainfall shrank by 10 millimetres (a year) between 1956 and 2006 while temperatures rose by (an average) 0.5 degrees Celsius, though below the worldwide average of 0.6 degrees," Syrian meteorologist Khales Mawed said.
The IISD predicts even modest global warming would lead to a 30-percent drop in water in the Euphrates, which runs through Turkey, Syria and Iraq, while the Dead Sea would shrink in volume by 80 percent by the end of the century.Some 160 villages in northern Syria were deserted by their residents in 2007 and 2008... more
